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Need a plan for re taking GMAT for the 5th time

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Need a plan for re taking GMAT for the 5th time

by sidceg » Mon Jul 07, 2014 9:59 am
I plan to give my GMAT by September mid for which I haven't booked yet. All I need is a plan to get things right for this final time. Since I have been very close to the elusive 7xx score in practice tests the last time I prepared, I feel I can do it in the real test too. So before calling it a day, I want to give it a shot one last time.

My previous GMAT scores are as below

1st attempt - Oct 2010 - 490 (Q45 V13) approx
2nd attempt - Aug 2012 - 480 (Q37 V17) approx
3rd attempt - Aug 2013 - 590 (Q41 V27)
4th attempt - Oct 2013 - 590 (Q48 V23)

During my preparation for the last time, I used to score pretty decently in the practice tests. My practice tests scores ranged from 590 to 690 with 80% of the scores belonging to the 590 - 620 frame. My verbal scores were more or less the same (around 34) but my quant scores were varying. The highest in verbal was 38 whereas my quant score fluctuated from once a 38 to most of the times a 45 to even 49 once.

The problems I face are
  • I am not able to concentrate and sit continuously for the entire exam. If I do 10 questions, I am comfortable. And as the time increase my ability to sit and concentrate decreases and I become restless which makes all my practice useless. This problem is more in verbal than on quant, but exists in quant too.
    I am terrible at RC whether I am able to concentrate or not. That makes me screw up 3 or 4 questions in a row.
    I just see verbal section as a cluster of words. I fail to see the framework of a CR or RC passage or get what is being tested in a SC.
    I am comfortable in scoring 45 in quant but I struggle to get a 49 or more. I feel that's because I just jump to solve the question without planning for it.
    I don't see patterns while practising
    I don't review the questions that I answered correctly
Now, after my last attempt, I made a career change - I joined a start up as an analyst to improve my profile and I moved up and am now leading my team and also managing a couple of products. Now that gave me some confidence to take on the GMAT for one more time.

TIA
Last edited by sidceg on Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by [email protected] » Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:47 am
Hi sidceg,

It sounds like you've put in some thought and really "defined" the problems that you're facing. Now you have to make the necessary adjustments to "fix" those problems.

Based on what you've described, some of your issues are physical - you get too tired and/or can't concentrate as you get deeper into the Test. I'll be happy to offer some suggestions, but as a matter of critical thinking, I'll pose this question first: what can YOU do to stay focused?

The other issues are more likely due to how you trained for the GMAT. What materials did you use? How long did you study for before you took your last GMAT?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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by sidceg » Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:00 pm
Thank you for replying Rich.
what can YOU do to stay focused?
I should make what I am doing more interesting or I should learn to focus on things even though they are not interesting. To make that possible, I should solve verbal section analytically instead of just reading them as a cluster of words and sentences.

The whole thought of sitting in the exam hall for such a long time and having to solve 37 to 41 questions without a break fatigues me.
What materials did you use? How long did you study for before you took your last GMAT?
Materials I used

For Quant:
The Official Guide 13
Jeff Sackman's Math Bible
MGMAT Guides
MGMAT Advanced Quant (a very little of it though, didn't have time to complete it)

For Verbal:
The Official Guide 13

Almost for all the attempts, I prepared for 3 months at an average rate of 2 hours/day
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by sidceg » Wed Jul 09, 2014 9:42 am
[email protected] wrote:Hi sidceg,

It sounds like you've put in some thought and really "defined" the problems that you're facing. Now you have to make the necessary adjustments to "fix" those problems.

Based on what you've described, some of your issues are physical - you get too tired and/or can't concentrate as you get deeper into the Test. I'll be happy to offer some suggestions, but as a matter of critical thinking, I'll pose this question first: what can YOU do to stay focused?

The other issues are more likely due to how you trained for the GMAT. What materials did you use? How long did you study for before you took your last GMAT?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
To add to the information, I've never had that much of time management issues too.
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by [email protected] » Wed Jul 09, 2014 4:48 pm
HI sidceg,

Now that you've listed the resources that you used, I think that part of your problem the last time was that you were working from just books. Many Test Takers get "stuck" because they haven't gotten used to working (at a high level) on a computer for 4 hours.

You'll need to build up your endurance for THAT task during your studies. As such, you should take a look at the various online resources that are available. Most GMAT Companies offer free sample materials, trial accounts, etc.; sample as many as you'd like and then pick the one that best matches your personality, timeline and budget.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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